Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by Absher Wealth Management LLC

Absher Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,887 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 949 shares during the period. Absher Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Waters by 190.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in Waters by 19,900.0% during the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waters during the second quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cfra set a $389.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $342.58.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT traded up $54.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $377.23. The company had a trading volume of 382,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 422,089. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $241.40 and a fifty-two week high of $384.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $341.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $324.75.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The business had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS for the current year.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments: Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans.